Dick Tracy dispute lands in Del. court

Dick Tracy has landed in a Delaware bankruptcy court, as Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s Tribune Media Services filed suit late today to clarify that it -- and not Hollywood star Warren Beatty -- owns the rights to the comic-strip crime-stopper.

Tribune Co., which filed for Chapter 11 protection last December, wants a judge to confirm its unfettered rights to the iconic square-jawed detective, which it says are "worth, potentially, millions" to Tribune Co. and its creditors.

Beatty, who acquired rights to the character from TMS in 1985 and made the 1990 movie "Dick Tracy" starring himself and Madonna, was required to produce another Tracy television or movie project to retain the rights, according to Tribune Co.

Beatty, 71, filed suit in Los Angeles federal court last November after the original strip's publisher asserted those rights had reverted back to it, arguing he had begun work on a Dick Tracy TV special before the deadline TMS had established two years earlier.